Author: Denis

REVIEW: Blue Bell Cookies ’n Cream Cheesecake Ice Cream

Denis 2 Comments

If you browse through a supermarket, or indeed this very website, you will find all kinds of products with outrageous names and flavor combinations designed to get your attention. But oftentimes those foods don’t live up to their overly creative monikers, or shockingly, it turns out that pickle and onion-flavored gummy bears are not good. So, I routinely give Blue Bell credit for its straightforward names and flavors, and once again it has scored a winner with its new Cookies ’n Cream Cheesecake Ice Cream.

Certainly, this flavor is not revolutionary, as Dairy Queen has an Oreo Cheesecake Blizzard, and you can find many similar ice cream flavors from other brands. What it is, however, is mighty tasty. The label doesn’t overpromise, but it does excellently deliver what it promises: cheesecake-flavored ice cream with chocolate cookie-crusted cheesecake pieces and generic Oreo.

The cheesecake ice cream is wonderfully smooth and creamy. It packs enough cheesecake flavor so that you know it’s there, but it doesn’t go overboard. Sometimes an ice cream flavor is too strong, to the point that you forget it’s ice cream or it’s too mild, and you can barely tell what the flavor was supposed to be. This one hits the right balance. Then when you do chomp down on a cheesecake piece, you get the full-on cheesecake experience, and it really hits the spot. Their texture is also spot-on, as they are not too firm but also not so soft that they blend with the ice cream. The fact that the pieces are chocolate cookie-crusted is hard to notice since there are already chocolate crème-filled cookies in the mix. And I’ll assume you know what those cookies taste like and how they are a perfect complement to cheesecake.

This ice cream is not fancy or flashy, but if you enjoy cookies ’n cream and you enjoy cheesecake, then I can almost guarantee you will enjoy this—and perhaps really enjoy it. Just be aware that my guarantee is not legally binding in any way, shape, or form, and if you printed said guarantee out on a piece of paper, it would make that paper worth less than its original value.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Brookshire Brothers
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 240 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Blue Bell A&W Root Beer Float Ice Cream

Denis 2 Comments

There’s a saying that if at first you succeed, then do something very similar so you can succeed again. OK, I might not have that exactly right, but the folks at Blue Bell know what I’m talking about. Last year, they introduced the Dr Pepper Float flavor, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and apparently, many others did as well because it’s now a permanent member of the Blue Bell lineup. For this summer, they have introduced the A&W Root Beer Float Ice Cream, which, despite its name, is only partly ice cream, namely vanilla, and the rest is root beer-flavored sherbet. Just like its Dr Pepper sibling, the A&W version is an instant classic in my book.

Through some kind of magic, which is vaguely explained in the ingredient list as “natural and artificial flavors,” the sherbet perfectly duplicates the taste of root beer. Plus, the consistency of the sherbet, which has a slightly more granular texture compared to the creamier ice cream, delivers a taste experience that almost made me think it was carbonated.

And here’s a tip: if you let this sit out for a few minutes instead of digging in right out of the freezer, the ice cream starts to melt a little faster than the sherbet, and it adds a bit more of the rich and creamy vanilla flavor to the mixture. Whatever Blue Bell did to make the Dr Pepper Float flavor so good, it did it again with this one.

Of course, I did have to try making a float with this ice cream and some actual A&W Root Beer, and the results were quite good, though perhaps not as mind-blowing as I was expecting, especially considering my choice of drinking vessel.

It turned out to just be a root beer float with a little extra root beer punch. So, if you have a busy schedule and don’t have the time for the two minutes of preparation that goes into making an actual root beer float, the Blue Bell version serves as a fine—perhaps even superior—substitute. You don’t have to worry about getting the right ice cream-to-root beer ratio; there’s no danger of the foam spilling over the top of the glass, and you’ll have tons more free time on your hands if you don’t have to do the mixing yourself. I just hope this version joins the Dr Pepper Float as a year-round product.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: H-E-B
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 50 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party Blizzard

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Once you reach a certain age, the word “party” takes on a different meaning. As a kid, the parties were non-stop: frequent birthday parties at school, pizza parties after your T-ball team finished last in the league, and a party just because the ice cream truck was in the neighborhood and all your friends got together. In high school and college, some people just needed a time and a place, and the party was on.

But after that, things change, especially if you have kids. Who’s going to babysit, what’s the parking situation like, is the party location more than 10 minutes from my house? If you’ve reached that stage in your life in terms of parties, the good news is that the new Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party Blizzard has arrived, and there’s no need to have someone watch the kids, unless you don’t want them to get a sugar high.

This creation, a party of the Summer Blizzard Menu, is loaded with sugar in the form of chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter topping, peanut brittle crunch, and sprinkles. I’m going to assume you are familiar with the first two components, as cookie dough and peanut butter topping are mainstays of the Blizzard family. They both do a solid job here. The cookie dough is soft and chewy with a hint of chocolate, and the peanut butter topping adds some extra creaminess to the vanilla soft serve base.

As for the peanut brittle, it’s a nice addition but not exactly mind-blowing. The pieces are quite small, sometimes even smaller than the sprinkles, and as such, they deliver more crunch than flavor, especially in a mixture that already has peanut butter topping. If you do zero in on a piece of peanut brittle, there is a slightly different peanut buttery flavor compared to the topping, but it really doesn’t stand apart. The sprinkles add some color and crunch, but they also don’t bring much in terms of flavor.

With a nice mix of chewy cookie dough, crunchy peanut brittle, and sprinkles, this Blizzard delivers some nice texture variation and a solid peanut butter flavor with a hint of chocolate. It would have been better if the peanut brittle pieces were larger, but this Blizzard still delivers a satisfying party for your tastebuds without things getting out of hand.

Purchased Price: $4.19
Size: Small
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 880 calories, 39 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 490 milligrams of sodium, 120 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 87 grams of sugar, and 17 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Ultimate Cookie Blizzard

Denis 9 Comments

I am by no means an expert on calendars. Yes, I can name the 12 months in order and even know which ones have 30 or 31 days. OK, I mostly know. August always gets me. I also know that early April is what people like to refer to as spring, and summer doesn’t come around until sometime in June. The fine folks at Dairy Queen apparently know even less than I do about how a calendar works, as they have just released their Summer Blizzard Menu, which includes three new concoctions and three returning flavors. After trying the new Ultimate Cookie Blizzard, I am quite happy about DQ’s complete disregard for chronology.

As you might have guessed, the Ultimate Cookie is loaded with cookies, and I mean loaded. It includes Oreo, Chips Ahoy, and Nutter Butter cookies, and the ultimate moniker of this version is spot-on. This might be the crunchiest Blizzard I’ve ever had, and that made it delightful. Every bite had the satisfying texture of the soft serve offset by a constant cookie crunch.

As for the taste, that also landed in the ultimate range. The Oreo cookies bring that famous chocolate flavor that is a part of so many Blizzard combinations, and the Nutter Butter cookies contribute a strong peanut butter taste but in a different way compared to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I love having PB cups in a Blizzard, but Nutter Butter might be even better. They seem to provide a more robust peanut butter flavor that can stand up to the chocolate without being secondary, as PB cups can sometimes be because they also contain chocolate. This Blizzard gave me more of a chocolate and peanut butter vibe than an Oreo and PB cup version.

And I didn’t forget about the Chips Ahoy. Actually, I kind of did. I saw evidence of their inclusion in the blend, but other than bringing some added crunch, it was hard to pick out the Chips Ahoy flavor compared to the Oreo and Nutter Butter.

Most fast food creations with ultimate or supreme in the name fail to deliver as promised, but this one does. If the words chocolate, peanut butter, and crunchy make you hungry, then you won’t want to miss this Blizzard. And thanks to DQ stretching the meaning of the word summer, you’ll have plenty of time to pick one up.

Purchased Price: $4.49
Size: Mini
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 480 calories, 20 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 67 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 49 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Blue Bell Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream

Denis 7 Comments

I must admit that I know precious little about the city of St. Louis. I know that arch thing is there, and…well, that’s about it. I did not know what people from St. Louis were called until just now, and even after finding out they are generally referred to as St. Louisans, I’m not sure exactly how to pronounce that. But I am proud to say that I have expanded my base of St. Louis knowledge a bit more, thanks to the new Gooey Butter Cake ice cream from Blue Bell.

It turns out that gooey butter cake, which are three words I’ve previously never typed together in my life, is a delightful, sugary treat that is native to St. Louis. I cannot explain why Texas-based Blue Bell decided to use it as its newest concoction, but I’m glad it did.

For those of you who are not St. Louisans or not well-versed in Midwestern culinary culture, gooey butter cake is a somewhat thin yellow cake that is dense like a brownie and often has a layer of cream cheese on top. The Blue Bell label describes this version as “cake batter ice cream combined with a luscious cream cheese swirl and rich gooey butter cake pieces.”

I would not have known the ice cream base was cake batter-flavored if not for the label, as it seemed to me just like the regular Blue Bell vanilla flavor. But the important parts of this ice cream are the cream cheese and gooey butter cake pieces, and they really deliver a home run. The cream cheese swirl is wonderfully silky and creamy with a strong cheesecake-like flavor, and you never know how much you will get because the color blends in almost seamlessly with the ice cream.

The cake pieces are a mixture of small, crumb-size morsels and larger square chunks, and that’s another mark in the plus column in my book. When you get a spoonful with just the crumb pieces, there is more than enough flavor to satisfy. And then, when you luck out and get a big nugget, you get to enjoy the chewy, buttery, sugary bliss it provides. After one bite, I regretted buying the pint size instead of the half-gallon, and I’m pretty sure the contents of my pint are not going to live to see tomorrow.

Having never eaten real gooey butter cake, I cannot say whether Blue Bell nailed the flavor profile with this ice cream. But it certainly nailed a delicious, creamy treat, and you can bet that if I ever find myself in St. Louis, that I’ll be hunting for some gooey butter cake. In the meantime, I’ll probably head back to the store and pick up a half-gallon.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One pint
Purchased at: Brookshire Brothers
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 280 calories, 13 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 27 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.